Welcome to a special “Double Take” Edition of Insider Tips.

J. Conrad Frank (Photo: Werner Images)

About three years ago, I was enjoying a Saturday lunch at the late lamented Blue restaurant in the Castro when I glanced across the room and spotted a tall lanky fellow with a handsome profile that struck me familiar. I racked my brain trying to figure out where I recognized him from before finally catching his eye and asking him where he worked, assuming I’d seen him at some shop, bar, or cafe I frequented.

“I’m a performer,” he said, introducing himself as Conrad. In that moment, it all clicked—I’d seen his face for weeks, made-up and bewigged, in advertisements for a Christmas show he was performing as his drag persona, the Countess Katya Smirnoff-Skyy. What a strange—and slightly embarrassing—sensation it was, to realize that I’d not been able to break through my perceptual gender wall to recognize Frank’s striking, singular face out of female context.

Well, Frank—who’s performed male roles in local productions of The Temperamentals and Sweeney Todd over the past year as well as doing regular gigs as Katya—is taking gender-blending one step further as the first drag headliner at San Francisco’s Penthouse Club, in a special Divas! Cabaret Brunch on Sunday, September 16.  The club—regularly packed with conventioneers and other afficionadoes of authentic boobage—advertises with the slogan: “Where the magazine comes to life.” Well, next Sunday, we can amend that to “Where the magazine comes to life…for those of us who read the Forum column with a cockeyed perspective.”

We’ve asked Conrad to answer our Insider Tips questionnaire below.  And if you click here, you can read Katya’s answers to the same queries.

San Francisco’s stellar siren, Veronica Klaus

Knockout song stylist Veronica Klaus is a real San Francisco gem, delivering respectful yet singular interpretations of  Great American Songbook tunes that will please devotees while winning new converts from younger generations.  The resident Tuesday night performer at the late, lamented Enrico’s restaurant during its final two years, Klaus now performs regularly at the Rrrazz Room—where she’ll be showcasing selections from the Peggy Lee songbook this weekend—along with Joe’s Pub in New York, The Gardenia Room in L.A., and other marvelous boîtes hither and yon.

Her superb new album, Something Cool, has been on heavy rotation here in the San Francisco Agenda office. Among the highlights is  Klaus’ jaded, jazzy rendition—killer trumpet solo!— of “The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game,” a song oddly unfamiliar to the general public despite having previously been recorded by performers ranging from Ella Fitzgerald, to the Marvelettes, to Massive Attack.

Clearly, our Ms. Klaus has a discerning musical palate. And she’s equally impeccable in her selections of food, fashion, et cetera. Which is why we asked her to answer our Insider Tips questionnaire. Read her answers, and buy her album, stat!

What’s your favorite cultural institution to spend time at in the city?  

 The Alameda Antiques flea market—held the first Sunday of every month—qualifies as a cultural institution for me! You can learn a lot at a museum, but you can also learn a lot about society by the things it saves and casts off. Put on your hat, dress up and make an occasion of it!

Where’s your favorite view in the city?  

 It’s great to take in the sites while riding a bicycle through Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach. The park really is an incredible resource and presents LOTS of different opportunities for sightseeing and mind clearing. I do it as often as possible in good weather early in the morning.  There’s something about putting it in high gear and going as fast as you can downhill through the meadows and the mist that really starts the day right! Rent a bike and go!

Where is shopping central for you?

I’m an compulsive browser when it comes to antiques and vintage, and there are several places to get your fix:  For clothing and accessories it’s Torso Vintages near Union Square downtown. They have an exquisite collection of designer, vintage and accessories that always amazes me–from Yma Sumac estate vintage gowns to FABULOUS hats!  Full disclosure: I work there too, but believe me, I shop!

For antiques and such there is Stuff on Valencia–two floors of fantastic and fantastically priced things that I may not end up buying but NEED to
visit often. For instance, there’s a folding screen made up, probably in the 70s, of authentic 30s hand-painted movie boards used to advertise in theater
lobbys.  NO ONE does this sort of calligraphy painting by hand anymore and it is exquisite!

Name one thing a visitor shouldn’t miss eating in San Francisco?

 The sweetbreads at Florio!  I don’t know exactly what they are–and please don’t tell me–but they are the most decadent succulent treats in town! What’s even better?  Though they used to only be an appetizer, they recently added them as an ENTREE size dish!  Oh, and did I mention there is bacon involved?

What’s your cocktail spot of choice? 

Two places for different moods:  Most of the time when I go out to a club I want to see some live music with my cocktail, and the best place in town for that is The Rrazz Room!  It’s a fantastic room to see a show in:  great sight-lines, sound, and a stellar array of artists!  It’s downtown at the Nikko Hotel in Union Square so it’s very centrally located.  You might be lucky and catch renowned artists like Della Reese, Mary Wilson formerly of the Supremes or the amazingly talented Tammy Hall playing piano with her own trio or accompanying any number of wonderful singers! [Ed: Including Ms. Klaus...but, while she's biased, we completely agree with her recommendation.]

For those nights when you just want a quiet cocktail with friends, The Comstock Saloon in North Beach has been in continuous operation since 1907 and is a great holdover from the old days of the Barbary Coast!  They are serious about their bartending there and take great pains to make you the PERFECT Manhattan….though a good Scotch neat is more my style.  One of the attractions you must look for is the original porcelain trough running along under the bar stools which used to function as a spittoon and supposed urinal for lazy, and intoxicated 49ers.  Don’t worry, it’s only a conversation piece now.

You’ve got $50 or more per person to spend for a meal, where would you choose?  

Da Flora restaurant on Columbus in North Beach—home of the sweetbreads!  Flora and Mary Beth run this fine Venetian cuisine establishment in a tiny little10 table space that is dark and cozy–just what I would imagine a fabulous century old Venetian restaurant to look like.  The gnocchi will start the meal off with delicious comfort and the menu usually includes a risotto orduck livers and other assorted ultra fresh and delicious regional specialties.  Try to take it easy on the house made focaccia bread because you will need the room.  They have their specialty cheeses flown in and for wine aficionados, Flora is adept at suggesting the perfect compliment to their amazing menu!  Call for reservations.

So now you’ve got less than $15 per person to spend for a meal. Where will it be?  

It’s got to be Pancho Villa Mexican restaurant on 16th St. near Valencia.  For a budget meal, there is NOTHING better than Pancho Villa’s carnitas burrito with black beans and guacamole.  You can smother it with Pico de Gallo at the salsa bar for free!  Delicious, and a bargain! Oh yes, and if you want seconds you don’t have to stand in line again….don’task how I know that.

What would you tell a visitor that they absolutely must do while in San Francisco which they probably wouldn’t find in a guidebook? 

The rooftop garden at the Fairmont Hotel is a gorgeous and chic place to spend a free hour and is open to the public!  You can take a free City Guides tour of the hotel
and get some wonderful insights on its history in San Francisco: it was built before the 1906 earthquake and has quite a storied past.

Jim Provenzano

Writer Jim Provenzano‘s latest novel, Every Time I Think of You, won a 2011 Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Romance. It’s a coming of age/coming out story that also addresses the challenges of physical disability, without ever feeling didactic or issue-oriented. Former sportswriter Provenzano—perhaps best known for his wrestling novel, PINS—is also the editor of BARtab, the Bay Area Reporter‘s glossy monthly guide to GLBT arts and nightlife, making him an ideal addition to our rogues gallery of Insider Tipsters.

Given his recent fictional focus on a character with disabilities, Provenzano suggested that, in addition to his personal favorite spots in San Francisco, he’d like to share some useful websites for travelers with disabilities. We couldn’t be happier to facilitate that:

• The San Francisco Access Guide:  A resource hub from The San Francisco Travel Association                            
• San Francisco On the Level: Wheelchair accessible tours of the city with no grades of more than 8%
• Ability Trip: San Francisco:  SF section of a trusted global guide to accessible travel

And now, on with Provenzano’s picks…

What’s your favorite SF cultural institution?

Aside from the GLBT Historical Society, which Michelle Tea previously spotlighted in your blog, I’d have to say The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, at least the foyer— it’s architect Mario Botta’s masterpiece, and word is that it’s going to be smashed apart to make way for, I dunno, something else. Really a shame. See it while you can, the way it is now.

Treasure Island with a hot Army guy before Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was abolished, on July 4, while holding hands. Sorry, that’s sharing a bit too much. Seriously, I’d recommend taking in the skyline while kayaking outside a Giants game in McCovey Cove; or from Angel Island; or from across the Golden Gate Bridge in the Marin Headlands.

Provenzano’s tips continue, after the jump

Read more…

For 15 years, San Francisco author Michelle Tea has spearheaded Sister Spit, a loose collaborative of roadtripping queer writers and performers that brings alcohol- and vegan meatloaf-fueled evenings of cabaret-styled provocation to college campuses, community centers, and art spaces around the country. This fall, venerable SF publisher City Lights will launch an entire line of Sister Spit Books, to be curated by Tea, whose own past novels, including the lesbian landmark Valencia bode well for what promises to be an edgy, engaging imprint. We’ll keep SF Agenda readers informed about local authors and events related to Sister Spit, but while we wait for news, we asked Michelle to answer our Insider Tips questionnaire about some of her recommendations for SF visitors and locals.

 The GLBT Historical Society. Their archives are open to the public, and contain really incredible artifacts – Harvey Milk’s Levi’s, Sylvester’s sequined stage costumes, a bar stool from the legendary ‘female impersonators’ nightclub Finnochio’s. They have the entire collection of every On Our Backs ever published (who knew Dorothy Allison was writing for them at the start?! Not me!). One gentleman left the Society a collection of his lovers’ pubic hair, all neatly collected in little glass jars and labeled with their names. It’s really a fun and vast collection, and they also run a storefront museum in Castro on 18th Street that shows different aspects of the archives with cultural context. San Francisco is really lucky to have this institution!

What’s the best spot to take in a view of the city?

Probably the view from the top of Dolores Park. The park itself curves out beneath you like this pretty green bowl, and then beyond that is the city. It’s a great, inspiring view, especially on a sunny day. At night I like the view of the waterfront when you’re driving back over the Bay Bridge. It looks so charming and exciting, old fashioned somehow with the ferry building, but totally not, with the giant buildings.

Michelle Tea has to eat and run (Photo: Amos Mac)

You are one of the best dressed literary ladies around.  Where do you like to shop.

For clothes, in the Mission, I like the Candy Store Collective and The Bell Jar. For vintage Stone Pony and Painted Bird are great and for actual thrifting, Community Thrift and Thrift Town. In a city of mad thrifters you can still find treasures at these places! I also love high-end consignment and discount stores, and good places for that are Sui Generis and in the Castro (second hand stuff you can’t afford the first time around) [Ed.: Honey, love that store, but I can't afford most of their stuff the second time around either!], and My Roomate’s Closet in the Marina (where Philip Lim and Costume National go to die).

For interesting ephemera I like 826 Valencia (which is like a fun house on top of being an actual store, where one can open drawers and discover dioramas, or get themselves swabbed. That would be a trap door of mop heads tumbling down on you.) and Paxton Gate and Viracocha, which is like a beautiful art installation you can buy earrings at.

For books I love Dog Eared Books, which are new and used with a fantastic remainder table. And City Lights is the best is like being in a museum and  wonderful bookstore at the same time. There is so much history, and then shelves of the best edgy and political work that is out right now. A whole alcove dedicated to zines and chapbooks, and a whole floor dedicated to poetry! Unheard of!

What would you tell visitors are San Francisco’s “must eats”? 

I am obsessed with the tacos and burritos from Pancho Villa on 16th Street in the Mission, in particular their chili verde chicken, which is stewed and delicious. I like to get ‘baby burritos’, which are slightly smaller version of the giant ones that can be a bit too much. You can pick spinich or chili tortillas, and there are tons of bean options, like 10 different agua frescas and a giant salsa bar. Also, for a really special and slightly otherworldly dining experience, check out Outerlands, in the Outer Sunset just blocks from the ocean. It looks like it was made by ocean-dwelling gnomes, with driftwood and plants hung on rusting chains, and the food is really great.Their Sunday brunch is awesome, and the wait can be annoying but a few doors down is Trouble Coffee, a little shop that sells only three things – coffee, fresh young coconuts (they slice the top off for you) and thick slices of cinnamon toast. Get some caffeine and a snack to tide you over and browse overpriced but lovely hippie wares at The General Store. If it’s a nice day check out their backyard, which has a big old picnic table and a lovely little greenhouse.

And for the best, most extravagant meal of your life, splurge at Atelier Crenn, a Michelin-starred restaurant where a wildly talented and creative French chef serves up Asian-inspired dishes with the help of molecular gastronomy.The menu is a poem, and on my visit one of the desserts came with smoked fog. Yes, fog.

More food, drink, and—gulp—death, after the jump Read more…

Author Rob Rosen (left) and husband in their beloved Castro.

Local author Rob Rosen is a travel fanatic, and it comes through in his cheeky gay novels including the Sin City romp Divas Las Vegas, the Hawaiian hijinks of Hot Lava, and his latest, Queerwolf, an unlikely blend of road trip, erotica, and horror story. Between  flights of imagination, Rosen—a native New Yorker who’s also lived in Atlanta— makes his home with his husband (a travel agent!) in the Noe Valley neighborhood, or as Rosen dubs it “Stroller Central.” We asked him where he points visitors in San Francisco…

The Castro, which is a gay cultural institution. There my hubby and I can see just about every breed of fabulous queer: leather daddies, lesbians, twinks, muscle queens, drag queens, bears, straight guys clutching their girlfriend’s hands, every race, every size, every age, coming from all over the world to catch a glimpse of how awesome it is to be gay in San Francisco. Fine, it’s a gay ghetto, but it’s our gay ghetto.

Corona Heights, just above The Castro and below Twin Peaks. It’s a nice hike up and virtually no tourists know how to get there or even that it’s there to begin with, and yet the view is nearly 360 and spectacular.

Valencia Street, which is a couple of miles of nothing but shops and restaurants and bars, all with a decidedly funky and young vibe. It’s also affordable, compared to the rest of the city, and teaming with people, mostly cool and hip and local.

Nothing beats Velvet Cantina in The Mission. Awesome margaritas in a quirky setting, with the friendliest waiters (all men and all nice-looking) in the city. The bar fills up with locals and the music is fun and fast and just loud enough that you won’t go deaf. And the chips and salsa are stellar.

Farallon is our favorite fine dining restaurant. It’s downtown and easy to get to, the menu is ever-changing, the wait staff is exceptional, and the decor/atmosphere is both elegant and upbeat. We’ve never had anything but a great time and are always treated well. And save room for dessert because it’s exceptional!

My other half and I love Cafe Ethiopia on Valencia Street. It’s family run, authentic Ethiopian, super cheap, and always delicious.

Well, the irony in this: San Francisco really is the most beautiful city in America, as any guidebook will tell you. So go ahead and do everything in the friggin’ guidebook!

Lewis DeSimone

Last night, I had the pleasure of joining novelist Lewis DeSimone at a City Arts & Lectures event where John Irving discussed his new novel, In One Person, which chronicles 50 years in the life of a bisexual man.  DeSimone’s own new book, The Heart’s History,  focuses on four years in the life of a circle of gay Bostonians.

DeSimone’s fellow local literary luminary Michele Tea has praised The Heart’s History for its perspective on ”the slow assimilation of a larger gay culture that used to be more angry and badass.”

DeSimone studied at Harvard, but has made his home in San Francisco for 19 years now. He lives in the midst of the Castro, but has badass insider tips that will take you all over town…

What’s your favorite cultural institution in the city?

Davies Symphony Hall.  It’s a beautiful space, with great acoustics and comfortable seating.  One of my favorite events of the year is the Symphony’s opening gala.

How about your favorite view?

My favorite view in the city is from the top of Market Street, when the whole skyline just opens up before you.  My favorite view of the city, though, is on 101 south, when you emerge from the Waldo Tunnel just before the Golden Gate Bridge. Even though I know what to expect by now, every time that view of the bridge and the city emerges, it’s miraculous.

Where do you recommend for shopping?

I love to stroll along 24^th Street in Noe Valley.  It has wonderful little shops and restaurants, and the street life is totally charming.

Dim sum, fine dining, and sightseeing tips, after the jump

Read more…

San Francisco author David Jedeikin (Photo: Jack Huynh, Orange Photography)

Last year, I had the pleasure of interviewing author and world traveler David Jedeikin for a feature in PASSPORT magazine. A few years back, in the wake of a break up with his boyfriend, Jedeikin took an epic solo round-the-world journey. After publishing his chronicle of the trip, Wander the Rainbow, David settled down in San Francisco (He’d briefly called the city home once before). Given his keen eye for detail and his endless appetite for cool adventures, I asked him to share his San Francisco favorites with SFagenda readers.

What’s your favorite SF cultural institution?

I love Fort Point, the Civil War-era fortress below the Golden Gate Bridge. The first time I had my heart broken, I went there, played sappy music, and wept. In addition to killer views and rich history, it makes for a suitably dramatic spot to cure whatever ails you.

Any other city views you’re fond of?

The view from my ‘hood, Potrero Hill, can’t be beat; in fact, I’m told it’s the vista they used in the movie Pacific Heights. Pac Heights, while a lovely neighborhood in its own right, doesn’t have the jaw-dropping panorama of the city & Bay Bridge we have on my side of town.

Where do you like to go shopping?

I love Hayes Valley. Lots of fabulous boutiques, cute little restaurants, and a neighborhood feel right in the heart of the city.

What’s one thing a visitor shouldn’t miss eating in San Francisco?

It’s cliche, but Dungeness crab is a favorite of mine. One thing it’d be hard not to eat is sushi: the city seems to have a sushi place on every corner.

What’s your favorite place to have a cocktail?

Martuni’s! The Martini was allegedly invented in San Francisco, and while this spot isn’t where it all began, it does a pretty darned good rendition.

Check out Jedeikin’s dish on dining and watch your editor’s favorite local cabaret singer rock Martuni’s piano bar, after the jump